This is a time where multinationals are emerging and the existing ones are growing.
There have been a lot of emergence and growth of multinational enterprises in the 20th century that we still see today. A lot of them have become game changers in their industry and the economy at large. They have also gained attention from scholars and academics that want to know the details of success. For this reason, they have now become the case study in many business schools. This research focuses on a detailed case study of the Johnson and Johnson firm, considering its history, lean manufacturing, conformity of operations to regulatory guidelines, nature and efficacy of supply chain, and cross-functional decision making.
Johnson and Johnson
Johnson and Johnson is a multinational enterprise that is based in America as its home country. The corporation was formed the three Johnson brothers in 1886 which is 120 years ago. The thought and idea of nurses and doctors using sterile tools and bandages to accord care and attend to wounded people was the founding agenda. The company has seen immense growth in expanding its employees to a total of 115,000 and operating more than 270 units in America and 57 countries globally. It is headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey in the United States and has become a global leader in the production of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and packaged consumer goods.
Lean Manufacturing at Johnson and Johnson
The company in its belief and mission focus on visible corporate results with focused activities in production and relations paves for economic sustainability. It is in this viewpoint that the firm has adopted the lean manufacturing methods to maximize throughput. In the company’s credo, it encompasses an opportunity to make fair profits which are attained through the constant attempts to minimize costs of production to enable maintain reasonable and affordable prices. Lean production has been championed as the way forward to adhering to the credo statements.
The company is implementing the philosophy for lean manufacturing at the parent company and the subsidiaries. For instance, Janssen supply chains a subsidiary of J&J has implemented lean production since 2012. A lean culture has been a great enabler in simplifying the tasks and improving performance (Wong& Wong, 2011). The firm uses same resources to manufacture more products and eliminates possibilities of wastages. The multinationals production lines are being geared to a visual factory that in itself inculcates the whole lean manufacturing concept. It serves to eliminate all the bottlenecks of manufacturing. The only obstacles that are left are the ones that cannot be eliminated and are part production itself.
Conformity to Regulatory Guidelines
The lean manufacturing procedures and operations of Johnson and Johnson conform with the requirements of the US environmental protection agency. The lean techniques at J&J and its subsidiaries through deliberate and accruing efforts to conserve the environment. The minimum waste philosophy for the company serves to increase productivity and performance of the company at the same time solves the problem of the wastes that would have found themselves littering as residues in the environment. The lean methods help in uncovering potentially hidden wastes and the activities that generate such environmental wastes (De la Vega-Rodríguez et al., 2018). It causes an overall magnification of benefits to the environment across the entire firm through less scrap, fewer defects and thus fewer wastes and less energy spending.
Efficacy of Supply Chain
It is in their mission and credo statement that their priority and responsibility lies with patients, nurses, doctors, fathers and mothers who are served by their services and products. It is thus an aspiration for J&J to ensure the highest quality. Quality in its definition encompasses the availability of the products in the neighborhood of the customer. The enterprise has for this reason embarked on supply chain collaboration to enable efficacy in supply (Schroeder et al., 2012). The firm enjoys a one billion consumer count who uses their product daily globally, and it calls for immediate and available products when required.
In providing greater customer value, the J&J has synchronized raw materials to the clients and consequently improved profitability. Key concepts that have been applied are better comprehension of customer purchases and tracking the most current purchases through information from the point of sale. The medical supplies that are manufactured by J&J are susceptible, and their unavailability could cause suffering. This chain enables easy reach for consumers to the pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Johnson and Johnson have been able to forecast accurate sales and manage the collaborative chain of supply.
Cross-functional Decision Making
The cross-functional teaming in the J&J Company aims at achieving a triangular or triple aim of reducing costs, improving outcomes and giving a patient the best experience. Cross-functional teaming gathers experts from the different departments and brainstorm to come up with the most workable and inclusive decision that spurs overall organizational growth (Pugh, 2016). J&J has used this in the development of new products that are game changers in the marketplace. The decisions by the team of diverse experts have effects on the overall running of the organization.
The team is from all the levels of personnel in the organization and may bring conflict from peers in different human resource positions. It also gives a chance for the workforce to embark and channel their energy, commitment, and expertise towards the common goal. It calls for sound management of the increased circle of employees. It helps in the utilization of a firm’s capital in the achievement of the group objective. Sharing of information among the experts from the various departments has to happen unilaterally as they pool resources to fund the common goal. The information systems are thus made transparent to the team member to audit and make constructive improvements. In conclusion, multinationals are in operation in diverse markets and often need to concentrate on best production processes and efficient supply channels to reach the markets.
References
De la Vega-Rodríguez, M., B.Lopez, Y. A., Flores, D. L., Tlapa, D. A., & Alvarado-Iniesta, A. (2018). Lean Manufacturing: A Strategy for Waste Reduction. In New Perspectives on Applied Industrial Tools and Techniques (pp. 153-174). Springer, Cham.
Pugh, L. (2016). Change management in information services. Routledge.
Schroeder, R., Rungtusanatham, M. J., & Goldstein, S. (2012). Operations management in the supply chain. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Wong, Y. C., & Wong, K. Y. (2011). Approaches and practices of lean manufacturing: The case of electrical and electronics companies. African Journal of Business Management, 5(6), 2164.
